There are numerous instances in industrial, medical, and even home environments where it is desirable to provide a compact workstation, such as those that may be adapted to house computer equipment. Ideally, such a workstation occupies a minimum amount of space when not in use, but, when in use, can provide a convenient working environment for a user. Articulating wall mounted workstations that can be opened for use and subsequently returned to a closed position are adequately proposed in the prior art. (As used herein, the term “articulating” is intended to refer to equipment that can be folded, compressed, nested, or otherwise adjusted in some manner, and in particular, equipment that articulates between an “open” or in-use configuration and a “closed” or idle configuration.)
In the case of a workstation adapted for housing computer equipment, a useful configuration is one in which the workstation is adapted to accommodate a central processing unit (CPU) assembly, a monitor, a keyboard and mouse and/or other user input devices, as well as perhaps other familiar computer peripheral devices (printers, mass storage devices, scanners, etc.)
Workstations as described above have proven to be especially beneficial when deployed and utilized in hospital environments. Other applications have also been contemplated, including dormitory rooms, hotel rooms or common areas in a motel/hotel, courtesy business centers such as are often found in hotels, airports and the like, as well as industrial/commercial facilities of virtually any type, etc. One example is proposed in presently pending U.S. patent application Publication No. 2005/0022699 filed in the name of Goza et al. entitled “Retractable Multiposition Furniture System.” The ornamental design of workstations generally falling within the foregoing description is disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. D434,578 to Goza, entitled “Computer Workstation;” in U.S. Design Pat. No. D435,361 to Goza, entitled “Computer Workstation;” and in U.S. Design Pat. No. D440,424 to Goza, entitled “Retractable Desk.” Each of the aforementioned Goza patents is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its respective entirety.
As would doubtless be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, articulating workstations such as discussed above may be deployed in various environments where the workstation may advantageously include a plurality of separate compartments, and where access to one or more of those compartments is selectively restricted. That is, it may be desirable or necessary for access to and use of certain portions of the workstation to be restricted to one or more authorized users. The hospital environment is one example (but by no means the only example) where ensuring that access to a workstation compartment be restricted to authorized users only.
In particular, a workstation adapted for deployment and use in a hospital environment may include a compartment for storing medications or other controlled substances. In such cases, it would clearly be desirable to ensure that only persons rightfully entitled to the contents of a secured compartment are capable of gaining access.
In some limited cases, it may be even further desirable to have more than one selectively secured compartment, for example, one compartment for securing medications as described above, and another compartment for securing the user-interface components (e.g., keyboard and mouse) of the internal computer. By separately restricting access to the computer, it can be ensured that information obtainable through use of the computer (e.g., patient records or other highly sensitive information) is not readily available to unauthorized users.